• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

Halo |OT 20| It really does feel like Halo

HTupolev

Member
It absolutely does. Cortana always gives advice to the MC. When we are suddenly faced with a new, unknown threat, there is no analysis to comfort us. And yes, being reliant on Cortana implies the MC is inferior to her in terms of combat analysis. Fear of the unknown.
You're still pointing to a lack of raw knowledge being the issue, not one member of a relationship being dominant. Dominant at providing strategic data, perhaps, but not dominant in any sort of general sense.

Yes, they are dependent on each other, but Chief coming to save the day was the turning point of their dependence roles switching.
Even though the narrative suggests that the Chief wouldn't have even been there if Cortana hadn't orchestrated the whole operation via that message in Floodgate?

At any rate, I'm surprised that you're pushing this line of argument, because putting the Chief in a more independent position prior to Halo 4 hurts Halo 4's narrative; it gives it less room for progression to a poignant separation.
 

CliQ

Member
So I heard/read somewhere that Coop is going to run on dedicated servers as well. This is pretty exciting news. I was hoping to play Halo 3/4 on legendary with a full team of four. Anyone interested in joining me (probably the first weekend it comes out)? I could do it myself but I feel like going at it with other people makes for better stories!

I'm looking at you FUNKNOWN and Ryn
 
I don't get what you're arguing? We're talking about games here, not books. Expecting people who play the games, to read all the books, novels, comics to understand the story is ridiculous.

I'm not going to go into Episode VII of Star Wars and be expected to read the thousands of books in the EU, watch all those shows. At the very least, I'm expected to have watched the first six star wars movies. And if they need to add expanded universe stuff, they can keep it self contained in the movie, just like it should have been in the game. I shouldn't have to read some Halo book to know who didact is, explain it in the game, otherwise you've failed your primary purpose of telling a story within the game.

I know this is not what you were aiming for, but when Disney bought the Star Wars IP they made every EU piece of work non-canon, meaning none of it counts. The only stuff that counts right now are the six movies, the Clone Wars CGI TV series, the now-running CGI Rebels series, and one book that is a prequel to the current show. A second book is coming out on Tuesday.

All the other stuff doesn't matter anymore.
 

Welfare

Member
Gamestop kept trying to get me to preorder the game and I was like no. I wanna preload and play immediately thank you very much. I'll have to do that this week. Thanks

You're welcome. Getting to play the game within the first hour of release is a lot better than the 3rd-4th hour. Only have it pre-ordered at Gamestop for the Bandanna Skull.
 

Granadier

Is currently on Stage 1: Denial regarding the service game future
Gamestop kept trying to get me to preorder the game and I was like no. I wanna preload and play immediately thank you very much. I'll have to do that this week. Thanks

If your console is set as your Home console, and you just buy it off the store anywhere, it will start downloading automatically as well.

I went the digital route to get the pre-load as well. There are some hitches because of Microsoft's infrastructure, and my internet is shit, but it works pretty damn well. Better than installing 45gb and then downloading 20gb on launch day in my opinion.
 

Random17

Member
You're still pointing to a lack of raw knowledge being the issue, not one member of a relationship being dominant. Dominant at providing strategic data, perhaps, but not dominant in any sort of general sense.
Again, Master Chief spent most of Halo CE taking orders or advice from somebody, whether it was Keyes, Cortana or 343GS. He almost wiped the galaxy of life as a result. He is absolutely not dominant in any sense of that word and is definitely used to taking orders.

Even though the narrative suggests that the Chief wouldn't have even been there if Cortana hadn't orchestrated the whole operation via that message in Floodgate?
I never said he was fully independent. But there were definitely signs in Halo 3 that suggested he was not nearly the same person he was in Halo CE.

At any rate, I'm surprised that you're pushing this line of argument, because putting the Chief in a more independent position prior to Halo 4 hurts Halo 4's narrative; it gives it less room for progression to a poignant separation.
If the Chief was suddenly independent without any development in the previous games then it would come off as forced, and it didn't. Halo 4 was the natural progression of Chief/Cortana's story in that regard. And because the dialogue/voice acting was good it came off really well. That's what it really comes down to.
 

RoKKeR

Member
Going to try and change directions in the forum. What is everyone's plan for MCC? Are you going straight into MP? Going to start the long run of beating all campaigns? What about forge? I want to know what you plan on doing the first day MCC is live.

For me, I have to play at least one game of Halo: CE online after that maybe Forge. It's just a long standing dream i've had and like a bug to a light I'm drawn to it.

In order as soon as it unlocks:

1) Halo 2 Campaign

2) Halo 2 Anniversary MP match

3) Halo 3 MP match

And then from there I'll be all over the map. Shit, one week.
 

HTupolev

Member
He is absolutely not dominant in any sense of that word and is definitely used to taking orders.
I'm not arguing that he's "dominant" or isn't used to taking orders, so I'm not sure what you're responding to.

If the Chief was suddenly independent without any development in the previous games then it would come off as forced
Unless Halo 4 provided some reason for the Chief to stop being reliant on her. Like rampancy and a nuke. Then it wouldn't be forced; if executed well, it would be the natural progression of Halo 4's narrative.

If the Chief suddenly felt less reliant on Cortana just after she guides him to save the galaxy, while still being right there and apparently functioning correctly, that would be forced.

From where I'm standing, it feels like you're acknowledging that Halo 4 does a poor job progressing the characters over the course of the game, and trying to say "oh, but a lot of that development happened during the original trilogy," despite the original trilogy presenting a sequence of events that if anything should have strengthened not only the friendship, but also the characters' mutual respect for each others' abilities.
 

Captain Friendo

Neo Member
The most important thing to remember as to why Chief will struggle without Cortana is that she was literally inside his head for about four months of his (conscious) life, during the most important part of his career and more or less in humanity's history.

The connection they had was almost telepathic, and that can probably be very hard to wean off of.
 

Random17

Member
I'm not arguing that he's "dominant" or isn't used to taking orders, so I'm not sure what you're responding to.
Well since you have acknowledged my point below so this line of reasoning ends here.

Unless Halo 4 provided some reason for the Chief to stop being reliant on her. Like rampancy and a nuke. Then it wouldn't be forced; if executed well, it would be the natural progression of Halo 4's narrative.
But not the natural progression of Halo's narrative...

If the Chief suddenly felt less reliant on Cortana just after she guides him to save the galaxy, while still being right there and apparently functioning correctly, that would be forced.
From where I'm standing, it feels like you're acknowledging that Halo 4 does a poor job progressing the characters over the course of the game, and trying to say "oh, but a lot of that development happened during the original trilogy," despite the original trilogy presenting a sequence of events that if anything should have strengthened not only the friendship, but also the characters' mutual respect for each others' abilities.
No, what I am saying is that Halo 4 establishes and develops a plot point to its fullest extent. A plot point that had murmurs throughout the trilogy. But ultimately most of the development still took place in Halo 4. Acknowledging the fact that this plot point had its subtle beginnings in CE as a reference point is not a bad thing.
 

HTupolev

Member
But not the natural progression of Halo's narrative...
No, but Halo 4 is hardly the natural progression of Halo's narrative anyway. The tone is dissonant with Bungie's works, and 343i's direction certainly doesn't seem to be plot-wise what Bungie had going. For instance, here's a 2011 post by a Bungie employee expressing surprise that human != Forerunner.

Side note: Some people have expressed the opinion that H==F is in conflict with Halo 3's terminals. This post is a fantastic response to that suggestion.

Acknowledging the fact that this plot point had its subtle beginnings in CE as a reference point is not a bad thing.
It's been stated by Bungie employees since before the dawn of time that they basically didn't plan ahead at all in the CE development days, it's been well-documented that Halo 2 had severe development issues that vastly changed the trilogy's narrative (i.e. the game was originally going to have a scene where Miranda strapped a nuke to the Chief and kicked him down a hole), and there's evidence (for instance, what I posted above) that 343i's development post-H3 isn't in line with Bungie's vision.

The point being, none of what you're suggesting was planned in the original material.

So AT BEST what you're putting forth is fan speculation that 343i has retroactively interpreted/canonized subtleties in the relationship between the Chief and Cortana in the original trilogy as setting up the character development they would have in Halo 4.
Speculation which, by my estimation, doesn't actually agree with the material in the trilogy, and furthermore actually runs against what Halo 4's narrative sets out to do.

But you're accusing me of refusing to acknowledge a "fact"?

Okay.
 

Random17

Member
No, but Halo 4 is hardly the natural progression of Halo's narrative anyway. The tone is dissonant with Bungie's works, and 343i's direction certainly doesn't seem to be plot-wise what Bungie had going. For instance, here's a 2011 post by a Bungie employee expressing surprise that human != Forerunner.
You are missing the point of my post. I am saying in regards to Chief-Cortana, which makes up a large portion of Halo 4's plot, it is certainly a progression based off the situation/ideas in CE. Nowhere did I say their vision or tone is similar.
Side note: Some people have expressed the opinion that H==F is in conflict with Halo 3's terminals. This post is a fantastic response to that suggestion.
It was an awful plot point to begin with and the idea is basically dead after the Forerunner Saga. It also popped up primarily in Halo 3, although a few references here and there were present. I'm glad it's dead.

It's been stated by Bungie employees since before the dawn of time that they basically didn't plan ahead at all in the CE development days, it's been well-documented that Halo 2 had severe development issues that vastly changed the trilogy's narrative (i.e. the game was originally going to have a scene where Miranda strapped a nuke to the Chief and kicked him down a hole), and there's evidence (for instance, what I posted above) that 343i's development post-H3 isn't in line with Bungie's vision.
See above.

The point being, none of what you're suggesting was planned in the original material.
So AT BEST what you're putting forth is fan speculation that 343i has retroactively interpreted/canonized subtleties in the relationship between the Chief and Cortana in the original trilogy as setting up the character development they would have in Halo 4.
Speculation which, by my estimation, doesn't actually agree with the material in the trilogy, and furthermore actually runs against what Halo 4's narrative sets out to do.
But you're accusing me of refusing to acknowledge a "fact"?
Okay.
Apparently analysis=speculation. You don't need to explicitly say something in a story for it to be considered to be a canonized subtlety. Again, it used CE as a reference point. Don't misunderstand what I am trying to say. CE never established this point intentionally, but in hindsight, you can see a progression of ideas. Note: speculation is using existing knowledge to make reasoned guesses as to why something happened or make a prediction. Analysis is an examination of existing material.

Ultimately the fact of the matter is that our interpretations of the Campaign are different. I'm not claiming any form of objective measure that Halo 4 is somehow good. But similarly nobody here can objectively claim that the Campaign is worse than Reach in terms of the lore only.
 

jem0208

Member
Going to try and change directions in the forum. What is everyone's plan for MCC? Are you going straight into MP? Going to start the long run of beating all campaigns? What about forge? I want to know what you plan on doing the first day MCC is live.

For me, I have to play at least one game of Halo: CE online after that maybe Forge. It's just a long standing dream i've had and like a bug to a light I'm drawn to it.
That is a seriously difficult question...


I'll probably spend about 10 minutes exploring the menus, then probably play Halo 2 campaign... Maybe.

Still trying to decide whether or not to start with CE or jump around.
 

HTupolev

Member
Apparently analysis=speculation.
No, but any half-reasonable speculation involves analysis. Using "speculation" to describe analysis carried out on disputed premises sits moderately comfortably in the definitional ranges of "speculation" in my English. I'm wasn't using the phrase to simply say "you're wrong" by itself.

You don't need to explicitly say something in a story for it to be considered to be a canonized subtlety. Again, it used CE as a reference point. Don't misunderstand what I am trying to say.
I don't think I did, although I suppose what I wrote could potentially be read as implying that, given my discussion of Bungie's intent. What I'm doing is disputing that it uses CE as a reference point in the way you think it did, and it follows that I don't recognize your "fact" as fact.

Ultimately the fact of the matter is that our interpretations of the Campaign are different.
Yes.

I'm not claiming any form of objective measure that Halo 4 is somehow good. But similarly nobody here can objectively claim that the Campaign is worse than Reach in terms of the lore only.
Certainly.

It's definitely too late for me to get into a discussion of the concept of "objectively better/worse" though. :D
Most people don't seem to get that you can only ever use such ideas (and only with rough meaning) when everyone in the discussion agrees fairly closely on what constitutes "better" or "worse" with regards to the sort of thing being discussed. A lot of the time, people take a couple of objective measures of something and then gauge the quality on a subjective "rubric," and then claim that it's "objectively of such-and-such quality."
...Nope nope nope gotta go to bed.
 

jaybeeze

Member
Going to try and change directions in the forum. What is everyone's plan for MCC? Are you going straight into MP? Going to start the long run of beating all campaigns? What about forge? I want to know what you plan on doing the first day MCC is live.

For me, I have to play at least one game of Halo: CE online after that maybe Forge. It's just a long standing dream i've had and like a bug to a light I'm drawn to it.

H2A campaign with a buddy and then Halo 3.

Not too long now, it helps that the wait has been going by really fast.
 

blamite

Member
Going to try and change directions in the forum. What is everyone's plan for MCC? Are you going straight into MP? Going to start the long run of beating all campaigns? What about forge? I want to know what you plan on doing the first day MCC is live.

For me, I have to play at least one game of Halo: CE online after that maybe Forge. It's just a long standing dream i've had and like a bug to a light I'm drawn to it.

Straight into classic H2 multiplayer. I won't get to spend much time with the MCC until the weekend, so a few matches of H2 every night will probably be just about all I get a chance to play until I head into the H2A campaign Friday night.
 

Random17

Member
No, but any half-reasonable speculation involves analysis. Using "speculation" to describe analysis carried out on disputed premises sits moderately comfortably in the definitional ranges of "speculation" in my English. I'm wasn't using the phrase to simply say "you're wrong" by itself.
I will say that speculatory posts about Halo tend to be about future events as opposed to character profiles :p

Yes.
Certainly.
It's definitely too late for me to get into a discussion of the concept of "objectively better/worse" though. :D
Most people don't seem to get that you can only ever use such ideas (and only with rough meaning) when everyone in the discussion agrees fairly closely on what constitutes "better" or "worse" with regards to the sort of thing being discussed. A lot of the time, people take a couple of objective measures of something and then gauge the quality on a subjective "rubric," and then claim that it's "objectively of such-and-such quality."
...Nope nope nope gotta go to bed.
Same here. Good night!

----------

Digital Foundry: Halo MCC

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2...ands-on-with-halo-the-master-chief-collection
 

Random17

Member
Yup, the major issue is Halo 4. The Halo 3/CEA framerates are fine/mostly fine.

But mid 40s/50s Halo 4 will be noticeable in some sections. Thankfully it appears as if the combat is fine, the level geometry seems to be causing the slowdowns.
 

Ein Bear

Member
oof, those framerates. :(

They sound like they all run pretty great to me. There are very, very few console games that literally run at a hard-locked 60fps 100% of the time, a small hiccup when stuff gets crazy is to be expected. Even Halo 4's performance, which is apparently the worst, is compared to The Last of Us Remastered, and that game ran great.
 

jem0208

Member
You're not gonna notice drops to like, 55 fps from 60 as we're seeing in 1 and 3. That's pretty standard for console games that claim 60. Halo 4 having issues surprises me.

Don't say that anywhere near the Digital Foundry thread. You'll have people swearing up and down that they can notice a drop to 59 fps.

Seriously though, looks like on the whole Halo 2 and 3 are damn near perfect. Halo CE has the weird judder but that's an insolvable problem so we'll have to deal with it really. Hopefully they release some extra optimisations for 4.





My biggest take away from this though is that it's not a good sign for quality split screen. If they can't hit constant 60 in solo, how are they going to get close in split screen...





Edit: Apparently the MCC is "cheap and nasty", smh...
 

Omni

Member
Noticed the drop to like 40fps when the pelican comes in Halo 3. Wonder how the Scarab scenes and whatnot are gonna handle

And ew. Halo CEA drops to 40s as well? I almost wish they'd disable classic mode. Or at least just make it a separate thing.
 
You're not gonna notice drops to like, 55 fps from 60 as we're seeing in 1 and 3. That's pretty standard for console games that claim 60. Halo 4 having issues surprises me.

Yeah personally I can't tell the difference unless I'm actively going out of my way to notice.

I'll take 1080p/55fps any day.
 
I know it's gonna sound pretty lame of me, but I honestly have little interest in the campaigns. The FPS, the drops, and whatever else are going to do very little to diminish my enjoyment of them. I'm definitely gonna go back through them, but I just want to get back into matchmaking again. Really eager to play CE and 2 on live and a little bit of :3
 

GrizzNKev

Banned
Don't say that anywhere near the Digital Foundry thread. You'll have people swearing up and down that they can notice a drop to 59 fps.

Yeah, well, most of the posts in Gaming regarding the MCC in the last few days appear to be from highly uninformed people making wild guesses. It has taken me some restraint not to go in there and correct them.
 

daedalius

Member
Man that gaming side thread so full of mad.

Halo 4 didn't exactly come out of the gate amazing... but I think its pretty fun now with the right settings.

I'll make sure not to say that in there though.

Edit: and from recent forays into Reach, and a while back into Halo 3; I'd rather play Halo 4 than either of those.
 
im not worried about the digital foundry thing unless there is a major drop. i seriously cant even tell the difference between 30fps and 60fps. and halo 4 well im not going to pay that anyway so dont care about it at all, just make sure the trilogy is solid
 

daedalius

Member
Legendary BR is so much better than Halo 3. If you added descope, took out sprint, added smaller symmetrical maps, and had Legendary settings as default...
Kreygasm.png
Kreygasm.png
Kreygasm.png
Kreygasm.png

Kreygasm.png
Kreygasm.png
Kreygasm.png
Kreygasm.png



Halo 3 hasn't aged well mechanically speaking. It wasn't that great in 2007 either.

Well, that modded gametype we've played before without sprint and BR starts IS pretty f'ing amazing.
 
Halo 3 hasn't aged well mechanically speaking. It wasn't that great in 2007 either. I remember moving from H2 to H3 and just hating everything about the way Halo 3 felt. Even Halo CE feels better.
Yep I felt the same way. Halo 2 was a drastic change from CE, but i was enjoying 2 quite a bit on xbox live. Halo 3 was just a massive change that I never really got comfortable with all the way till Reach.
 

GrizzNKev

Banned
The 60-55fps bugs me in BF4. It's doesn't ruin anything, but it bugs me.

A couple fewer frames per second isn't the issue, but the frequency of framerate variation. If the refresh flip flops like crazy it's noticeable in the form of a weird stuttering phenomenon. As long as the drops that happen in MCC hold and resolve smoothly rather than flutter it should be fine.
 
Top Bottom